Employers have policies and plans that address employee time away from work. For example, employers are required to provide workers' compensation coverage for employees who incur job-related illnesses or injuries. An employer may have policies for sick leave for relatively short periods of illness, such as up to two weeks, short term disability leave for non-occupational illnesses or injuries for periods longer than the period of sick leave and of up to generally 90 or 180 days, and long term disability plans that provide income benefits after an elimination period generally of 90 or 180 days. In addition, the Federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) applies to employers with more than 50 employees and provides eligible employees with job-protected leave for certain family or medical reasons. FMLA leave can run concurrently for the same employee with disability leave (both occupational and non-occupational conditions). Employees can also take FMLA leave for child bonding, care of a family member with a serious health condition, care of a service member injured in the line of duty, or for military exigency reasons.
Most states also have one or more leave laws with which employers must comply. Some state leave laws are similar to the FMLA in terms of qualifying leave reasons but many states provide job-protected leave for other reasons such as organ donor situations, domestic violence, victims of crime, school visitation, and volunteer firefighter leave. Determining requirements and tracking requirements for all of the different types of mandated leave is a complex task for employers.